As a child I used to be chubby, well, let's face it-fat :)). When I turned 16 I was 189lbs!!!! And I said to myself ENOUGH is ENOUGH. Started working out, dieting...and yes, I lost quite a lot, but kept putting on. At Uni I have decided to break my old habits and jo-jo effect and eat healthily and work our regularly. Which had worked for me for 10 years no problem. BUT then I had a baby :) and was BF for almost a year, and was hungry all the time. I was not nibbling or eating any junk food. But ...

As a child I used to be chubby, well, let's face it-fat :)). When I turned 16 I was 189lbs!!!! And I said to myself ENOUGH is ENOUGH. Started working out, dieting...and yes, I lost quite a lot, but kept putting on. At Uni I have decided to break my old habits and jo-jo effect and eat healthily and work our regularly. Which had worked for me for 10 years no problem. BUT then I had a baby :) and was BF for almost a year, and was hungry all the time. I was not nibbling or eating any junk food. But was very generous with my portions and ate loads of carbs (I don't like meat much). And thus my attempts to get my old shape back :)).

My Goals:
Not to gain too much weight during my second pregnancy and get back into shape after the delivery in January ASAP. I was way toooo careful after the 1st one :) and was left with 5 kg more up to the 2nd pregnancy

My Program:
As I am 16 weeks pregnant, I wasn't able to get back on track as planned. I was sick most of the time for the first 3 months. ONly now I feel normal again :). So, the plan is from 1st August to start walking 10 000 steps a day and 3x a week do some strength exercises. Wish me luck :)

Congrats on taking the first step to reaching a healthier you by joining the Bootcamp Challenge and getting active with SparkPeople - it's a great community, wonderful resources and fantastic support.

Please check out the SparkTeams - I think you will find a lot of others 'just like you' there. You can choose SparkTeams by age group, lifestyle or interests, geographic location or several other ways - in fact, I suggest joining more than one group, post your intro there and write blogs as often as you can - you will find tons of friends and support that way, I promise!!

In my experience, SparkPeople is like a in some ways - it's lots of fun and easy to make friends because we're all in this together. I like the way a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE is emphasized instead of a 'quick fix wonder diet' - it's about waaaaaay more than 'just' losing weight so you have definitely come to the right place!

If you ever need any help using features of the site, there are tutorial videos under the HELP section that can show you how to use the features of the site. You can also find them on the START page and several other places on the site.

If you haven't discovered The Spark book and/or the SparkDiet linked at the bottom of the START page, check them out - the program is simple but extremely effective. There is a TON of information on this site - so much it might even seem overwhelming but fortunately we don't have to 'digest' everything at once! The FastBreak program is a good way to start.

Another nice thing about SparkPeople is that we have permission to be human - we don't have to change everything at once or be in a hurry to reach our goals. Take a few baby steps and then a few more and before you know it, you'll have completed a long journey - I hope you enjoy this community as much as I do - it teaches us how to make positive lifetime changes because that's the only thing that will work over time!

Start with your Start Page! Here is a video to help you unlock the power of Your Start Page: www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=1124

Here's the video for the Nutrition Tracker - the best tool online! www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1154

I was 54 when I joined SparkPeople and 56 when I came back and started my Spark Program, starting with Stage One. This is a one day at a time program, but if you do the SparkPeople Program Steps, it really does work. I am terribly average, it's the SP program that is extraordinary.

I found logging my foods in the Nutrition Tracker helped me to lose 90 lbs in 16 months! I started at 210 and went to 120.

I hung clothing that was too small on my closet door and every time I would get discouraged I would try them on. Week by week they started fitting! That kept me motivated.

Welcome aboard, we really are all in the same boat! Sometimes we can sail right along but sometimes we have to be rowing like crazy!

thx everybody for your support. I have sat down and thought it through again :). And I came up with a better strategy-or I hope so :). I think I did not have a specific plan on how to achieve my goal apart form vague-loose weight by eating less and doing more exercises. So, I took all the advice you guys gave me and deceased to take a new challenge each week. I will publish my plan as a new post. Thanks a lot again and I wish you all a great week!!!

Hi! I took a minute to look at your tracker. I believe on your latest blog, someone said, to be careful, of the soups. These are loaded with sodium I work with the guidelines set for me here on Spark. And one of them I most certainly control is my sodium. People don't realize how much water weight that involves, and it can add to your weigh in. Also be true to your tracker, use it wisely, and I know they set a goal for you here, don't go under that goal, it helps to lose weight, believe me, I know. Good luck for the rest of your journey! adding u as a friend. Stay Sparking! MJ

Slovakia is beautiful! I've never lived there, but we've visited a few times, last time as just this August. Hope the move back goes well - how long have you lived abroad?

We've loved so many things about Italy, but there are even more things that annoy and frustrate us, so we'll be glad to move back to Sweden. The climate there is horrible, but at least the society functions, you know?